Thank you Vince. It's really interesting information. And I really surprised that RF is the second market for RPG's. Thats really cool. But I can't understand - percents of steam and gog doesn't included? If it not a secret, of course.

P.S.: But anyway Shadowrun sequels are selling good... Over 500K not all games can make such sales.

Thank you Vince. It's really interesting information. And I really surprised that RF is the second market for RPG's. Thats really cool. But I can't understand - percents of steam and gog doesn't included? If it not a secret, of course.

I'm not sure what we can and can't disclose, so I'd rather stick to the overall numbers that include Steam, GOG, GamersGate, and direct sales.

Quote

P.S.: But anyway Shadowrun sequels are selling good... Over 500K not all games can make such sales.

True but it also depends on the size of your company. For example, Shadow Tactics sold 421,828 ± 20,493 which would have been a spectacular success for us but it nearly bankrupted them.

"As stated above, the launch of Shadow Tactics was a dream come true: we made a successful game with better ratings than ever expected.

Also, two follow-up projects were canceled shortly before the game’s release, we were nearly bankrupt and half the team, including some of our earliest team members, had already received their termination to ensure that we could finish the console version with the money left and a minimal work force.

While the “all in”-success-story probably sounded romantic in some way, it was an absolutely awful experience. And we had predicted it: by adding four more months to the project, the game became much better, but all our savings were gone. When we realized that our backup plans for new projects didn’t work out as planned, we knew we were screwed. Because we exclusively focused on Shadow Tactics, we didn’t invest in any new pitches and had nearly nothing to offer to new partners. On top of that, they understandably waited for the release and the first weeks of SteamSpy data before they wanted to sign a project.

That left us in a horrible spot to be in: the whole team walking onto the stage in front of the whole German games industry, winning awards, being happy and at the same time knowing that it might be the last month of the studio.

Part luck, part delivering a decent game, we had been able to talk to publishers after the release and none of them took advantage of our situation or tried to rip us off with a bad deal. Negotiations that normally can take up months went through quickly and fair. In the end we surprisingly had to choose between projects, all of which we’d wholeheartedly loved to develop. I vividly remember being on the train on December 23rd, the very day before Christmas, and writing the final email to the team, letting them know that the contract had finally been signed and we were safe for the time being."

He isn't wrong, of course, but making games was never about making money. You make games because that's your passion. Essentially, either you do what you love or you do what pays well. I was really good at managing sales but I was more afraid of doing it for the rest of my life than of trying this game development thing and failing a couple of years down the road.

About sequels not making as much as the original game - it may be (in part) because they were released later and steam sales seem to be worse across the board (unless you're a viral hit like PUBG). Which may be related to the increasing glut of games being released on Steam.

But yeah, even in the best of times, I suspect that a new game is more exciting than a known quality like a sequel or an expansion, regardless, and thus has more potential sales.

I know that, for System Crash, I hesitate on making sequels/expansions because, even though I'd love to grow the game further, the base game is not yet profitable, and as you say, an expansion would probably only achieve 30% of the sales figures. But I'm resolved to make one expansion just to get the data point. Maybe I'm wrong and it will be a worthwhile venture.

Logged

“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.” - George Bernard Shaw

For what it's worth I was very undecided on buying AoD despite knowing about it for as long as two or three years before I finally bought it. I was conflicted because each time I looked at it considering purchasing it, I immediately turned to the reviews, which often have people complaining about merciless checks and being unable to access a lot of content without min-maxing.

After I finally hankered down and bought it on sale, I fell in love with it. The reviews that scared me away at first were wrong, but they're still there. There are multiple branching paths, and you literally cannot experience every part of the game in one playthrough. I think the issue is that these people come from a game like Skyrim or Fable where your choices are limited to one reward or another from a quest, unlike old Fallout or any branching story RPG in which whole situations in the game are mutually exclusive for one reason or another. It's not a casual game, but it's an excellent RPG, for people who like cRPGs.

Now that I understand why I enjoy the game and why the reviews were a poor indicator of the game I've left a review that I hope may dispel the doubts others may have had like myself. It is an indie game though, and like as was mentioned the game has run its course for the larger chunk of its revenue.

On a small note though, I wish more creators of things I enjoyed had a means of patronage. Though the audience for such is often small, I wouldn't mind donating. Especially when I'm often too late for kickstarters and other campaigns.

Actually a pretty good point, as a direct sale does ITS get the full proceeds (aside from transaction processing)? I could buy it several times then, aside from buying it for some friends who'll want it on Steam.

Actually a pretty good point, as a direct sale does ITS get the full proceeds (aside from transaction processing)? I could buy it several times then, aside from buying it for some friends who'll want it on Steam.

Yeah, but if your friends like it their positive reviews won't count, which as this point is something harder to get. Many people that are on the fence wait until a sale to buy the game and when they don't like it they leave a negative review.

Logged

"Hasta la victoria, siempre."

"Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have it?"

The only conclusion here is that some countries like hardcore RPGs a lot more than others. Sadly, it has a very limited application as there isn’t much we can do about it, one way or another. It's worth noting that even though Russia is our second biggest market in terms of copies sold, the revenue share is only 5.2% due to regional pricing.

That's 'cause of PC platform is dominating in Russian video games' market over all others, while an average income of such gamers is rather low. And Russian video gamers likes hardcore RPGs so much.

Is there something you can do for the positive reviews from those who get a steam key while they got it for free after a BMT support ? Many from this option are the longtime fans of your game(s), but if Steam doesn't take in account their reviews, it's unfair I guess.